Start Your Engines – GT Cup kicks off 2024 at Donington Park

This weekend marks the opening round of the 2024 GT Cup Championship season. Donington Park hosts the first of seven race events which sees the series heading to some of the UK’s best race circuits.

Group GTO is the championship’s Open Specification group and once again features a variety of machinery. Returning for another season is 2023 champion Paul Bailey with Kendall Developments. For 2024, Bailey has enlisted the help of David Brabham to defend the title. The pair will be running a Lamborghini Huracan this weekend, but the monstrous Brabham BT62 should be back later in the season.

Following a short hiatus, Jensen Lunn returns to the GT Cup grid, though in a rather different beast. Joining Tim Gray Motorsport, Lunn is piloting a Radical RXC with former Group GTO champion Steve Burgess as a teammate. Also returning to the grid are GT Cup stalwarts CTR Developments and National Motorsport Academy. NMA have opted to run their Lotus Evora with Jay Shepherd behind the wheel, while CTR Developments, as always, is the home of Richard Chamberlain and his unique Porsche 935.

Group GT3 does exactly what it says on the tin and hosts cars homologated to manufacturer’s GT3 specification. The talk of the GT3 town is rivals becoming teammates as Richard Neary and Ian Loggie join forces in the Abba Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. The pair are both talented drivers so expect to see some great racing from the #6 car. G-Cat Racing will be the main rival for Abba, with Shamus Jennings and Greg Caton returning in their Porsche 911 GTR GT3.

Challenge and Cup cars find their home in Group GTC and the reigning group champs are back to try and defend their title for a fourth year in a row. Topcats Racing have paired Charlotte Gilbert with pro-sporting driver Tom Rawlings for their 2024 championship assault and remain the team to beat. Team Parker Racing return with Keith Bush, and a second Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for legend of Legends racing, Miles Rudman. Woodrow Motorsports’ Chris Murphy also makes the swap from Group GTO to Group GTC with his BMW.

Group GTH is the home of GT4 specification cars. The group has a history of being highly competitive and 2024 looks no different. Featuring machinery from Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren and Ginetta, GT4 spec cars again look to be flavour of the month. Morpheus Motorsport make a triumphant return, ready to defend their 2024 Group GTH title. Stephen Walton and Chris Hart make a formidable pair and will no doubt be looking to continue their success. The sister car will also be one to watch as Jon Currie was hot on the heels of his teammates in the title fight with Phil Keen returning as his co-driver.

Also returning to the group is Paddock Motorsport, with two fresh faces aboard their McLaren Artura GT4. Michael Orant and Jake Poole will both make their GT Cup debut this weekend. Team Parker Racing are not only expanding in Group GTC but have also added a Group GTH car to the stable with Charles Dawson and his pro driver Seb Morris  in a Mercedes AMG GT4.

Newcomers to the championship Forsetti Motorsport are bringing two Aston Martin Vantage GT4s to the fold, with Matthew Higgins and Mikey Porter aboard the #9 and Jodie Sloss partnering with Rianna O’Meara-Hunt in the #10. Two more teams make their GT Cup debut this weekend – SVG Motorsport and Jolt Racing. SVG Motorsport will be representing Ginetta on the grid with their G56 GT4 in the hands of James Townsend and Leona Theobald, while Jolt Racing adds another McLaren to the group with Rupert Williams and John Ingram aboard a 570S GT4.

Each day will kick off with a 15-minute free practice session followed by two 15-minute qualifying sessions with three groups running in each session. Qualifying times set the grid for the day’s 25-minute Sprint Race. The fastest laps during the Sprint then determine who sits where on the grid for the 50-minute Pit-Stop Race and reverse on the Sunday.

This is the first of seven, four-race weekends for the GT Cup and there are tons of different awards up for grabs at the end of the season including the Sprint Challenge for sprint races and the Sporting Challenge for purely sporting driver line ups. Track action kicks off on Saturday morning with free practice at 10.30am. Plus, all four races will be broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube.